The new commissioners will formulate the policy plans of the police, represent the public and agree on budgets with chief constables. They are designed to create greater public engagement in policing, both in terms of priority setting and active citizenship, based on a duty to have regard for the opinions of local people.

Although the commissioners embody a controversial central government policy that could undermine stability in local policing, there are opportunities present within the agenda. Both the police and the public can use the arrival of the commissioners to build on existing expertise and strengthen democratic accountability to ensure more effective policing.

Through partnership with local authorities and the public, there is a real chance to develop a consensus around priorities on policing policy, as well as create a space for innovative ideas to emerge, through ensuring that a range of different (and perhaps challenging) perspectives are included within the process.

Existing official modes of community engagement often tend to neglect those people who may argue that police policy is overly intrusive - especially in more deprived areas. The riots of August 2011 revealed that this is an issue that cannot be ignored. It is only by listening to these voices, in addition to the wider community, that policing policy can become more effective. Police and Crime Commissioners provide an opportunity to be able to develop this connection.

Fires in Salford in August last year. Subsequent 'community conversations' helped understanding between local groups and agencies such as the police. Photograph: Jon Super/AP

Democratic policing aims to bring the police and community together in order to address criminal and social disorder problems. Therefore, the democratic accountability of the Police and Crime Commissioners must not only rest upon the upcoming elections, but be part of a long-term project of extending the connection between those who make decisions and those who are affected by them. This should take note much of the commendable work already undertaken by the police, and be linked to existing democratically elected local authority structures - ensuring that strategies are developed to connect communities with the police to best enable effective dialogue.

Communities' perception of crime will be influenced by factors that exist beyond the realities of their local areas, so public participation must be balanced with a longer-term strategy based on empirical evidence. However, this evidence should be co-produced with all partners and directly involve communities in a meaningful way. That would draw on the local knowledge of communities and value their experience.

This could contribute additional perspectives to the professional knowledge of the police – those people who live in neighbourhoods most affected by crime will have particular insights that the police will not. Such an approach would lead to more effective policing as it would be better informed by local preferences and needs, with communities contributing more to improved outcomes and achievable solutions.

Police and Crime Commissioners who wish to support effective, efficient and equitable policing can be part of a longer-term solution that brings the police closer to the communities that they serve. We will have to wait and see if this happens - and whether increased democracy in policing is extended beyond the ballot box on 15 November.